juliansjuice

Hello Everyone! First of all, thank you in advance for any and all advice and recommendations on this thread. Coming to you with itinerary questions, mainly, in terms of timing. For those of you in the know, do you think my plans below make sense and am I giving myself enough time (or do I have too much time)? My wife and I will be visiting Montreal at the end of August, arriving on a Wednesday in the early evening and departing the following Saturday in the early evening. I'm the type of traveler who likes to cram as much as possible into my visit and I move fast. My wife would rather take it easy and is OK with missing out on certain things so long as she doesn't feel rushed. Trying to find that middle ground. So, what do you think? Any things we should do within our itinerary? Anything not mentioned that we should absolutely add? We already have our dinner reservations set but lunch recommendations are very welcome! Again, thank you so much for your advice!

Wednesday
Arrive in Montreal from the U.S. at 4:00pm. Head to hotel Downtown (near Musee des Beaux Arts). Take some time to check in, head to a rooftop terrace for a cocktail or glass of wine and walk around as the night sets in. Dinner Downtown.

Thursday
Morning walk from Hotel to Old Montreal for a walking tour from 10:00am - 12:00pm. Lunch in Old Montreal or Downtown while checking out everything we didn't see on the tour. Visit Mont Royal and take in the view. Rest up at the hotel followed by a late afternoon or early evening visit to a wine bar (or cocktail bar). Walk around and explore the Plateau area and Ave. du Mont Royal. Dinner in the Plateau. If time allows, check out the DJ set at Quartier des Spectacles on our way back to the hotel.

Friday
Morning visit to Jean Talon Market. Explore Little Italy and Mile End. Lunch in Mile End. Long walk after lunch. Enjoy the outdoors, parks, etc. Refresh at hotel before grabbing an early afternoon glass of wine and heading to St Joseph's Oratory to catch the sunset. Dinner in Outremont.

Saturday
Morning visit to Musee des Beaux Arts. Lunch before heading to airport around 2:00/2:30pm.

Thank you again!!!

shelemm

My favorite thing to do in Montreal is to climb the Grand Staircase of Mont Royal. This experience is as Montreal as you can get. It is hundreds of steps. You will not be alone. Even with a lot of stopping to take photos, it takes about 15 minutes to go up. However, if you are in really terrible shape it could take more. Regardless, it is worth doing. If you can get a taxi to drop you off at the bottom, it's that much easier. If you go by Metro, you will have some serious uphill walking to do before you get to the bottom. On top there is a great balcony overlooking Montreal and a cafe to reward you for effort.

For folks who are mobile, it's the only 'must-do' in Montreal.

When you go to Mile End, go listen to some live music at Cafe Depanneur. Singer-songwriter performers. It goes on throughout the day. Cool only-in-Montreal vibe with songs sometimes in French, some in English.

juliansjuice

Thank you shelemm ! We are super excited. Leaving for Montreal in a few days. Do you recommend starting at the Peel Steps or should we just take a taxi straight to the Grand Staircase? We don’t mind the extra hike, but if there’s not much to see/enjoy along the way, then it wouldn’t be necessary. Thanks again for the recommendations!

zebec

JJ, great bang-on advice from Shel above. Below is our photo-dense Montreal /Tremblant TR. It is very loooooooooong and is laden with music, tips and more.
Hopefully it'll be of some use to those who are Montreal-bound.
*one might need to scroll back to the start as sometimes it comes up already halfway through.
I am done. The end.
En Pays Quebecois: a Montreal/Mt. Tremblant TR avec fotos

shelemm

I started at the intersection of Peel and Pine, aka the Peel Steps. I believe that's the closest you can get to the starting point at the bottom by car.

juliansjuice

Gorgeous photos zebec , thank you! They definitely gave me ideas of what to look out for.

kja

I really enjoyed the Botanical Garden in Montreal.

Cabby671

If you like hockey, you can visit the Bell Centre.

Wessislander

Visit the Bell Centre? Are there tours available because the regular season doesn’t start until October.